Ido Nehoshtan

Aluf Ido Nehoshtan, also Nehushtan (Hebrew: עידו נחושתן; born 1957) is a retired general in the Israel Defense Forces. He replaced Eliezer Shkedi on 4 April 2008 as Air Force Commander until he himself was replaced by Amir Eshel on 10 May 2012 upon his retirement from 37 years of service.

Ido Nehoshtan
עידו נחושתן
Commander of the Israeli Air Force
In office
4 April 2008  10 May 2012
Prime MinisterEhud Olmert
Benjamin Netanyahu
IDF ChiefGabi Ashkenazi
Benny Gantz
Preceded byEliezer Shkedi
Succeeded byAmir Eshel
Personal details
Born1957 (age 6364)
Jerusalem
AwardsLegion of Merit
Military service
Allegiance Israel
Branch/service Israeli Air Force
Years of service1975–2012
Rank Major General
Commands140 Squadron
Air Intelligence Group
IAF Chief of Staff
Planning Directorate
Israeli Air Force
Battles/wars1982 Lebanon War
2006 Lebanon War
2008-2009 Gaza War

Military career

The son of Ya'akov Nehoshtan, Nehoshtan's roots are from Bulgaria and Macedonia. Nehoshtan was conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces in 1975 in the Combat Engineering branch and was selected for the IAF Pilots Course after a year of service. Until 1979, he flew an A-4 Skyhawk, and was then re-trained for the F-4 Phantom in the No. 107 Squadron.

During his career, Nehoshtan served as an instructor at the pilot school, then as the 253 Squadron deputy commander (ranked major) and commander of the No. 140 Squadron (ranked lieutenant colonel), among others.

In 2000, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general and commanded the Air Intelligence Group, from 2002 commanded the Air Squadron, and from 2004 headed the Air Force Staff.

On June 8, 2006, he was moved to the command of the Planning Directorate with the consent of the then-Defense Minister Amir Peretz, due to a request by then-Chief of Staff Dan Halutz to keep him in service.[1] On February 15, 2008, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, approved Nehoshtan's appointment to command the Air Force as a major general. On April 4, 2008, he was replaced by Amir Eshel as the Planning Directorate head upon becoming Air Force Commander. Eshel himself succeeded Nehoshtan in the same position 4 years later.

In April 2012, he was awarded the Legion of Merit by US Air Force Commander Gen. Norton Schwartz during a ceremony in Washington. Nehoshtan also met with US pilots who have flown on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and flew himself in the aircraft's simulator, as well as on the V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft that the IAF has considered to acquire as a complementary platform for search and rescue and covert operations behind enemy lines.[2]

References

  1. Greenberg, Hanan (2008-02-15). "Aluf Ido Nehoshtan Will Be Appointed to the Command of the Air Force". Ynet. Retrieved 2008-02-15.
  2. Katz, Yaakov (15 April 2012). "IAF chief awarded Legion of Merit by USAF commander". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.